[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 241 (Monday, December 18, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 87368-87369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27748]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 230810-0190; RTID 0648-XD575]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch 
Area Closure and Possession Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool 
Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; in-season possession limit adjustment and area 
closure.

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SUMMARY: This action prohibits possession of Gulf of Maine cod by 
common pool vessels through the end of fishing year. This action also 
closes the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to 
Northeast multispecies common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, 
sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear for Trimester 3 of fishing 
year 2023. These actions are necessary because the common pool fishery 
is projected to have achieved the annual sub-annual catch limit and 
caught more than 90 percent of its Trimester 3 quota for Gulf of Maine 
cod. This action is intended to prevent overages of the common pool's 
quota for this stock.

DATES: The prohibition of cod possession by common pool vessels is 
effective December 15, 2023, through April 30, 2024. The closure of the 
Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area is effective 
January 1, 2024, through April 30, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Spencer Talmage, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This temporary rule immediately prohibits 
common pool vessel possession of Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod through the 
end of the fishing year on April 30, 2024, and closes the GOM Cod 
Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area from January 1, 2024, 
through April 30, 2024. These actions are intended to prevent the 
common pool fishery from exceeding the common pool GOM cod Third 
Trimester TAC and common pool GOM cod annual sub-Annual Catch Limit 
(sub-ACL).

Possession Prohibition for GOM Cod

    Recently available fishing year 2023 catch information shows that 
as of November 28, 2023, the Northeast Multispecies Common Pool fishery 
has caught 100 percent of its 10.6-metric ton (mt) sub-ACL for GOM cod. 
Regulations at 50 CFR 648.86(o)(1) provide that the Regional 
Administrator may implement or adjust the Days-at-Sea (DAS) possession 
limit to prevent an exceedance of the sub-ACL. In addition, regulations 
at Sec.  648.82(n)(2)(iii) require a deduction of an amount equal to an 
overage from the common pool's sub-ACL in the next fishing year. To 
prevent a common pool overage of its 2023 sub-ACL for GOM cod, 
effective December 15, 2023, the GOM cod possession and trip limits are 
decreased to 0 pounds (lb) (0 kilograms (kg)), and possession is 
prohibited for all common pool vessels (table 1).

           Table 1--New Possession and Trip Limits for GOM Cod
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Current possession/    New possession/
          Permit type                 trip limits          trip limits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Days-At-Sea (A DAS)...........  50 lb (22.7 kg) per     0 lb (0 kg) per
                                 DAS, up to 100 lb       trip;
                                 (45.4 kg) per trip.     Possession
                                                         Prohibited.
Handgear A....................  50 lb (22.7 kg) per
                                 trip.
Handgear B....................  25 lb (11.3 kg) per
                                 trip.
Small Vessel Category.........  150 lb (11.3 kg) per
                                 trip, within combined
                                 300 lb (136.1 kg)
                                 trip limit for cod,
                                 haddock, and
                                 yellowtail flounder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Common pool groundfish vessels that have declared their trip 
through the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) or the interactive voice 
response system, and crossed the VMS demarcation line prior to December 
15, 2023, are not subject to the new possession and trip limits for 
that trip.
    Weekly quota monitoring reports for the common pool fishery are on 
our website at: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/nemultispecies.html. We will continue to monitor common pool 
catch through vessel trip reports, dealer-reported landings, VMS catch 
reports, and other available information and, if necessary, will make 
additional adjustments to common pool management measures.

Closure of the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area

    Federal regulations at Sec.  648.82(n)(2)(ii) require the Regional 
Administrator to close a common pool Trimester TAC Area for a stock 
when 90 percent of the Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. Based 
on recently available catch information, common pool vessel catch is 
projected to exceed the GOM cod Trimester 3 TAC

[[Page 87369]]

as of November 28, 2023. Consequently, beginning January 1, 2024, 
through April 30, 2024, the GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed. The 
closure applies to all common pool vessels fishing with gear capable of 
catching that stock, and remains in effect for the remainder of the 
trimester. During the closure, affected common pool vessels may not 
fish for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean 
pout in or from the Trimester TAC Area for the stock.
    The common pool fishery is currently in Trimester 2, which runs 
from September 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Current Trimester 1 
and 2 catch amounts leave no Trimester 3 TAC available to catch. 
Regulations at Sec.  648.82(n)(2)(iii) state that any overage or 
underage of common pool Trimester TACs in Trimesters 1 and 2 must be 
accounted for in the Trimester 3 TAC by deducting overages and adding 
underages to the Trimester 3 TAC. Common pool catch of GOM cod in 
Trimester 1 resulted in an overage of 3.3 mt, leaving only 1.9 mt 
available catch for the remainder of the year and Trimester 2. 
Deducting the Trimester 1 overage from the current Trimester 2 underage 
results in an overall overage of 1.9 mt that must be deducted from the 
Trimester 3 TAC. The Trimester 3 TAC is 1.9 mt, so this deduction 
results in a Trimester 3 TAC of 0 mt.
    With a Trimester 3 TAC of 0 mt, any amount of catch in Trimester 3 
would result in the common pool exceeding the Trimester 3 TAC and the 
common pool sub-ACL for GOM cod. Additionally, 90 percent of 0 is 0. As 
a result, we conclude that on January 1, 2024, the common pool fishery 
will have caught 90 percent of the Trimester 3 TAC.
    Based on the above, effective on January 1, 2024, the Gulf of Maine 
Cod Trimester TAC Area is closed for Trimester 3, through April 30, 
2024. The Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester TAC Area consists of statistical 
areas 513 and 514. During the closure, common pool vessels fishing with 
trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/hook gear, may not fish 
for, harvest, possess, or land regulated multispecies or ocean pout in 
or from this area. This closure of the GOM Cod TAC Area ends at the 
beginning of Trimester 1 of fishing year 2024 on May 1, 2024.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive prior 
notice and the opportunity for public comment and the 30-day delayed 
effectiveness period because it would be impracticable, unnecessary, 
and contrary to the public interest.
    The regulations require the Regional Administrator to close a 
trimester TAC area to the common pool fishery when 90 percent of the 
Trimester TAC for a stock has been caught. Updated catch information 
through November 28, 2023, only recently became available indicating 
that the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of 
its Trimester 3 TAC for GOM cod, and 100 percent of its GOM cod sub-
ACL. The time necessary to provide for prior notice and comment, and a 
30-day delay in effectiveness, would prevent the timely closure of the 
GOM Cod Trimester TAC Area on January 1, 2024, and immediate 
prohibition of possession of the stock. Delay in closure would be 
contrary to the regulatory requirements and, with a delay in 
implementation of the possession prohibition would increase the 
likelihood that the common pool fishery would exceed its annual quota 
of GOM cod.
    Any overage of the annual quota would be deducted from common 
pool's quota for the next fishing year, to the detriment of this stock. 
This could undermine conservation and management objectives of the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Prior notice and 
comment and a 30-day delay in effectiveness are unnecessary because 
fishermen were provided ample notice and opportunity to comment on the 
regulations that require this immediate closure. Fishermen expect these 
closures to occur in a timely way to prevent overages and their payback 
requirements. Overages of the trimester or annual common pool quota 
could cause negative economic impacts to the common pool fishery as a 
result of overage paybacks deducted from a future trimester or fishing 
year.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: December 13, 2023.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-27748 Filed 12-15-23; 8:45 am]
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